


A Newfound Trust/An Ally to Rely on

by Lululeigh



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Horses, Hoshido | Birthright Route, Near Death Experiences, Overcoming fears, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 13:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8403034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lululeigh/pseuds/Lululeigh
Summary: What does one do when they have too much free time on their hands? Nothing to see here, just two old guys that love to joke around with each other a bit too much. Set in a route where Gunter is rescued by Corrin and decides to join her in fighting for Hoshido. Spoilers for Revelation concerning back story material.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday to UntramenTaro here on AO3!! Thank you for sinking me deep into this ship and always chatting with me about it! I hope you birthday is filled with lots of Ossans, enjoy!

Nohr’s old knight was known for holding the belief that it was impossible to ruin a quiet afternoon sitting beneath a tree while reading a favourite book. At least, he thought this until the day where he had nearly died while in the process of doing so.

It was a peaceful autumn day at the Hoshidan base camp from the experienced eyes of the old knight. Their leader, or by his standards, his lady, had given their troops a day off after completing an important quest the day before, Gunter having decided to spend his free afternoon away from the main area of the camp. He took any downtime that was offered to him in stride and normally spent it outside—after being forced to live in the Northern Fortress for countless years, he began to appreciate all that nature had to offer again, including the slow changing of the leaves that littered the ground all over the camp. Luckily he had found a nice tree to sit under not too far away from their base, using his leisure time to read an older novel that he had a habit of carrying around with him wherever he traveled.

However, his peace would soon come to an end, stopping before it truly had time to begin.

“Enjoying that novel?”

“By the gods!”

Dropping his book to the ground and jumping from being startled, Gunter could swear his heart was beating so fast in his chest that he could be suffering from a heart attack. He had not begun to think of who the culprit was as he tried to calm down, realizing a few moments later that the only person that would have known of his activities was Yukimura, as they had passed by each other while Gunter was leaving. The mechanist barely managed to cover up his laughter, coming out from his hiding place behind the tree to reveal himself.

“Opps! Didn’t think you would be that startled.”

“I nearly had a heart attack! Are you planning to be the cause of my death?”

The old knight took a moment to try and regulate his breathing, cautiously watching the other gentleman with a keen eye. He hadn’t been scared in such a manner since his days when both he and Corrin were younger, the small children who inhabited the Fortress making it a contest amongst themselves to see how many times they could cause him to jump out of his skin on rainy days when they were trapped inside. Never did he think that his heart would be suffering from such a strain at this age.

“How did you even do that? I did not even hear the leaves crunching beneath your feet!”

“You may not be aware of this, but a mechanist is higher than a ninja, class wise at least. I may not look it, but I am most certainly a ninja.”

“Ah, good to keep in mind for the future. I certainly won’t be allowing that to happen again. It may not seem like it from my recent reaction, but my senses are still as sharp as a knife.”

“Even the best knives can get dull.”

“You didn’t look after five young children at one time while living in a fortress.”

“Point taken. Just out of curiosity, do you regret your time spent there?” Yukimura made himself comfortable underneath the tree, allowing his back to brush up against the aging bark, leaving enough space between him and the knight so that their shoulders barely touched, the contact they shared never being much more than this.

“It is not as though I had a choice to go. I was merely fulfilling a duty as instructed from the King. However, after everything that has transpired, no, I do not in the slightest.”

Even now, Gunter tried to convince himself that what had arisen in the past had not been his fault, but instead an unfortunate turn of events which was the product of a greedy ruler. On many days, his past life before the Northern Fortress was all he could think about, but he dared not tell anyone about it. Information concerning his family was too private and close to his heart, as well as not wanting the sympathies from his comrades in battle, especially this late in his life. Despite what had happened, nowadays he mainly thought about the happier moments he had experienced with his late wife and child. He had decided long ago when he was assigned to watch over the princess that he would take his past to his grave, though sometimes he felt like the mechanist could infer that he had suffered a great tragedy long before meeting Lady Corrin.

“We all have things we wish could have turned out differently,” Gunter sighed, turning his gaze to the cloud filled sky above. Yukimura hummed in agreement, twirling an oak leaf between his thumb and index finger.

“Naturally. However, we seem to become more aware of the actions we want to change as we age, wouldn’t you agree?”

Yukimura couldn’t deny that he too had gone through experiences he wished he could change. The first which came to his mind was being unable to save Lady Mikoto on the horrific day of the attack on Hoshido, despite knowing that she acted out of her own will. Acknowledging the fact that the two people who had such an influence on his life as a younger man were now gone thanks to the opposing side was a hard pill to swallow some days, while others it cut him deep like a knife. However, Yukimura had a tendency not to show this wounded side around others, usually burying his feelings under work and to be worried about later. Sometimes he wondered why the site of this man, clearly once part of the enemy who had brought him this grief, didn’t bring him such terrible feelings like those he experienced while out on the battlefield. To him, it was a mystery with the answer still unknown, but for now, leaving it like it was did not bother him in the least.

“I am happy to have the chance to come back and serve under Lady Corrin again. Now, I feel like no matter what side she fought for, I would end up following her regardless. That or, I’d end up getting dragged along,” Gunter laughed under his breath, picking his novel from where he had dropped it and searching for the page he had been forced to stop at.

“What book is that now? A classic in Nohr?”

“Not exactly. I’ve had this since my days as a young knight. Perhaps if you are interested, I could allow you to borrow it, so long as you return it in the same condition that I loaned it to you.”

“I think that might be impossible at this point in time.”

Maybe he had been wrong to think so quickly that his quiet afternoon had been ruined by a near death experience.

\-----

To the ordinary soldier, Yukimura appeared to be a well put together gentleman, skilled in the art of strategy and puppet making, and fearless of everything that was thrown in his path. However, to a select few individuals, mostly the Hoshidan royal siblings and other parties, there was one creature that caused him to freeze up and panic.

Unfortunately for him, one of these other parties was none other than Corrin’s great knight, Gunter of Nohr.

“There is no way I’m letting that thing come near me!”

“Oh Yukimura you are freaking out far too much. Horses do not eat meat, and my steed certainly does not like the taste of flesh.”

Yukimura was still standing in shock, trying to keep his distance as Gunter continued to approach the small frightened mechanist. The mere thought that one of them could easily trample him under their hooves was his biggest fear, though the feel of slobber against his hand was none too pleasant to think about either. Ever since Lady Hinoka had attempted in teaching him to ride a pegasus, he had steered clear of the four-legged creatures, even on the battle field. This time he found himself in quite the pickle, the older gentlemen eager to teach him how to ride for showing him how to operate a puppet.

“Would you like to feed her?”

“Hmm?”

“Feed her, she likes sugar cubes. Here,” Gunter dug a small pouch out from his pocket, tossing it to Yukimura who naturally caught it with his good hand-eye coordination. “Just try, I promise no harm will come to you. I will even hold onto the reins.” He offered the other a smile, his horse eyeing the bag of treats in the meanwhile. Yukimura could infer that she recognized what it was, and having not much choice, carefully took one sugar cube out of the pouch before slowly approaching her.

Yukimura’s movements were cautious as he extended his open palm with the treat towards the mare’s muzzle. He jumped out of his skin as he felt her lips touch his palm, quickly pulling away once the treat had been eaten, wiping his hand off on his pants to clean it of any germs. Gunter only rolled his eyes, giving the horse a pat on the forehead for being so well behaved. The older knight had only heard a little bit about Yukimura’s bad experience with the animal, but he wanted to reassure him that there was no reason to fear them.

“Was it as terrifying as you made it look?”

“I suppose no, not really. That’s as close as I’ll get to her though.”

“She likes being pet on the forehead too.”

“You promise she won’t bite?

“You have my word.”

With the most hesitance that he had seen in a person, he watched as the mechanist approached the horse once again, taking his time to reach up and place his hand on the horse’s long forehead. Gunter let the reins fall to the ground this time while the other was too absorbed in watching the creature’s movement for any sign of a startle, the knight knowing that his well-trained war companion wouldn’t be going anywhere. In an odd way, the others actions reminded Gunter of how Corrin reacted to meeting his horse for the first time when she was young. He didn’t want to call it cute, but the curiousness they both shared brought a smile to his face.

“What would it take to get you to ride a horse?” He interrupted the mechanist’s focus, though he didn’t so much as look away from the animal.

“I’d prefer to stick with my puppets.”

“Don’t avoid the question. You see now that Sascha is completely harmless.”

“But that is only your horse. Who knows how wild some of the pegasuses are that we have in the stables.”

“Well I never said you had to start out with one of them. Those creatures take extreme balance and strength to control. If you fell from any large height at your age…”

“I’d prefer not to imagine the outcome. Thank you for your concern.”

The air between them fell quiet for a moment, Yukimura’s hand continuing to rest on the horse’s forehead. He noted that the hair was rather worn, most likely from wearing a complete set of armor during the many battles she had endured over the years. Gunter had certainly taken excellent care of her, to be in such good shape even now several years into the war. He could only hope to perfect a puppet one day that was as sturdy and reliable as such a creature.

“I can teach you how to ride her, if you’d like. In exchange, you can show me everything you know about puppets.” Gunter was the one to break the silence, Yukimura barely snapping out of his thoughts regarding puppet construction in time to catch what he had said.

“You mean… as in lessons? It isn’t a trouble?”

“I have not much better things to do with my time when we are here at camp. Besides, from what I can see, I think you would get along rather well with Sascha. So, is it a deal?”

“I’ll have to think it over. I am rather busy at times with creating strategy maps…”

“And then you can see for yourself how useful my position is once you can ride a horse!”

“I know perfectly well what you are capable of as a knight.”

“I was merely trying to convince you from a strategical point of view.”

“It didn’t work too well.”

“No?”

They both broke out into laughter, causing Sascha to perk her ears up at the sudden outburst. It wasn’t often that Gunter found himself laughing, let alone with another person. Not after long Yukimura felt something tugging at his clothes, jumping in reaction to the sudden nibbling he felt, only causing the older knight to laugh more as he saw his horse nipping at the mechanist’s clothes.

“I think she’s looking for those treats you tucked away into your pocket.”

“…Is one more okay?”

“Just one. The last thing I need is for her to realize she can be spoiled when you’re around.”


End file.
